The Bungee Cord.  12-4-21

Hello,

 

     You may have read your share of “good byes” to 2020 and “hellos” to 2021, but just in case you haven’t reached your fill, here’s one from me.

 

     If there is one thing that was made crystal clear this past year is that we, everyone in the world, are in fact all in the same boat.  No one, anywhere has not had their lives effected by the attack of this virus.  Some have died.  Some have become sick, even very sick.  Some have lost jobs, and everyone has had their daily lives adjusting to new restrictions.  When it comes to the Covid19 virus, we are all in the same boat.

 

     Often, we live otherwise, living as if we sail through life in our own boats.  Sometimes those boats are as big as countries, as big as faiths, as big as workplaces, as big as economic status, and as big as race.   Sometimes those boats are very small, one person boats.  My house.  My money. My opinion.  Myself.   

 

     Whether big or small, when we live our lives as if we sail in our own boats some painful things happen.  We collide and people raise their fists and voices at one another.  We find ourselves getting caught up in boat superiority or inferiority.  We get jealous and engage in “keeping up with the Jones’”, We stake out our claim on certain waters, and forbid trespassing.  We tend to float with boats of a feather, and are completely unaware of the struggles other boaters are facing.  And we narrow our perspective in life to just keeping our boat afloat.

 

     So, when someone’s boat is going down, we might say, “Too bad they don’t know how to sail.”  Or, “I’m glad they’re gone.  I didn’t like them anyway.”  Or, “That’s what they get for being lazy.”  Or, “I told them, and they wouldn’t listen.”  Or, “What boat? I don’t see any boat going down.”

 

     But when we live our lives as if we are all in the same boat, we realize when my neighbor is sinking so am I.  I realize that even the person furthest from me has a part in me reaching my journey’s end.  I can’t use the terms “us” and “them”, it’s “we”.  I have to get used to not everything being done my way, and yet remember that my way can be very helpful.  Leaving people behind is not a possibility.

 

     It is not easy to sail along all in the same boat, but this year we have seen that at the deepest level of our existence, the truth is that we are all in the same boat.  Of course, God has seen and known that for a long, long time, and that is what the Christian faith is all about.  “For God so loved the world…the world…the boat…that he sent his Son.”  And here’s even the more amazing thing about God that we discover in Jesus Christ, he so loves the world – that is the world of people sailing in this boat of life – that God jumps on board with us.  Even God does not sail in a different boat than we do.  God so loved the world that even God will sink if we sink…even God has a place in my journey….even God is not part of “us” and “them”….even God’s will gets entangled with our will…and even God knows that there is no way to leave anyone behind.

     As we sail into the year ahead, we have been given eyes to see the truth…..that we are all in the same boat, the same boat God is in!

 

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)]

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger